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Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA), a U.S. network of four privately owned oncology focused factory hospitals, was weighing options for growth. CTCA was entirely cancer focused and specialized in treating patients with complex and advanced-stage cancers, who were reached through advertising its integrative, team-based approach to care. CEO Stephen Bonner needed to decide whether to focus future expansion on building additional full-scale hospitals or pursuing a hub-and-spoke model, in which numerous oncology outpatient centers would be built in the region of each CTCA hospital. His decision would be made in the context of CTCA's unique business model and treatment philosophy and the public policy landscape, including certificate-of-need laws and the advent of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and bundled payments. CTCA's for-profit status and direct-to-consumer advertising made it a target, he knew.

In late spring 2009, Stroz Friedberg co-presidents Edward Stroz and Eric Friedberg had to set growth targets for 2010. The leading global consulting firm they had built specialized in managing digital risk and uncovering digital evidence and had grown very rapidly. With the firm's CFO, they believed that the firm could grow from $58 million to $72 million, a growth rate of 27% over the preceding year. However, the firm's 11 offices had submitted first draft FY 2010 plans that together added up to firm-wide revenues of only $53 million, a growth rate of negative 10.2%. The preceding years of rapid growth had been successful but challenging, and a thorough review of the firm's culture, systems, structure, and processes in late 2008 had resulted in a significant set of changes to which the organization was still adjusting. Stroz and Friedberg wondered whether to push for continued, aggressive growth.

Starting in 2007 Milwaukee leaders from different areas (large established companies, civic organizations, public sector, academia, and entrepreneurs) negotiated a path for converting the region into a global water hub to address economic and environmental concerns. The leaders with various stakes in the change managed to work together to re-arrange and support existing pieces to maximize the collective potential. Their actions exemplified "advanced leadership" in a complex social system such as a community or region. There was no central leader; instead there was a collection of coalitions and collaborative activities that contributed to the end result.

Since its inception in 2003, LinkedIn had become a leading Silicon Valley institution with a brand name that was recognizable throughout the U.S. and in many countries overseas. As of March 2012, LinkedIn was the world's largest professional network on the Internet with $522.2 million in revenue in 2011 and more than 150 million members in over 200 countries. Unlike other major social networking sites, LinkedIn focused exclusively on fostering connections within the professional market. As LinkedIn's CEO thought about the future, he recognized the challenges in continuing to massively scale the company. At the same time, he focused on how LinkedIn could continue to use its vast amount of data to provide additional products and services for its members and customers.

In January 2009, an investor was assessing his investment in Nortel Networks Corporation. Nortel had recently filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States and Canada, meaning his entire original investment was almost certainly lost. Nortel had filed a total of four accounting restatements from 2003 to 2007, leading to class-action lawsuits from investors and investigations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC). Considering his losses, the investor wondered whether there were any signs indicating that Nortel's accounting practices were problematic. He also wanted to understand the accounting issues raised in the SEC and OSC investigations, such as improper recognition of revenue and improper recording of provisions. Overall, the investor wanted to learn from his loss with Nortel to make stronger future investing choices.

You can also find this case divided into A, B, and C cases. See OB85(A) Dealing with a Toxic Boss for the A, B, and C cases. Ned was an upper middle manager in a major construction company. Six months prior, he was hired away from a competitor to develop the company's market in the fast-growing southeast region. As it turned out, the major challenge was not with the market, but with his boss, Bill, Southeast Regional Director. The case describes Ned's experience working with Bill and Ned's analysis about how to handle the situation. After a meeting with Bill that did not yield any improvements, Ned decided to approach John, the company president, about the negative impact that Bill's behavior was having on building the Southeast Region. The discussion with the company president did not produce any real changes either. Ned struggled with whether to continue raising issues about the impact of Bill's actions on both business growth and employees or simply resign.

This case is divided into A, B, and C cases. See OB85 Dealing with a Toxic Boss for an expanded version of the full case. A Case: Ned was an upper middle manager in a major construction company. Six months prior, he was hired away from a competitor to develop the company's market in the fast-growing southeast region. He was assigned to Atlanta to grow that business. As it turned out, the major challenge was not with the market, but with his boss, Bill, Southeast Regional Director. The A case describes Ned's experience working with Bill and Ned's analysis about how to handle the situation. B Case: After a meeting with Bill that did not yield any improvements, Ned decided to approach John, the company president, about the negative impact that Bill's behavior was having on building the Southeast Region. The B case covers Ned's discussion with the company president, Bill's subsequent behavior, and new issues that arose in the regional office. C Case: Ned struggled with whether to continue raising issues about Bill and the impact of Bill's actions on both business growth and employees or simply resign. Case C covers Ned's decision, his plans for rolling out that decision, and the implications of his actions on others.

D.light is one of the leading manufacturers of solar powered lighting technology specifically designed for use by the world's poorest, bottom of the pyramid customers. Having sold over 7 million lights since 2007, the company has been relatively successful. However, sales to the very poorest customers have failed to reach penetration levels desired by management, and the company is currently struggling with an array of marketing techniques and strategies specifically targeting this historically difficult customer segment

Led by CEO S.D. Darmono, Jababeka was a publicly listed real estate firm in Indonesia specializing in industrial estates. Due to infrastructure and logistics bottlenecks in Indonesia, the company had moved into various infrastructure projects, including a power plant and a port. Even though the company had identified substantial business opportunities in the form of a captive market of industrial estate tenants, both projects suffered from delays due to regulatory complexity. Darmono skillfully aligned the interests of private and public-sector partners, but was still unable to get quick returns on his considerable investments, necessitating an allocation of more funds. The case illustrates the opportunities and risks of emerging market infrastructure projects. Students are asked to evaluate the viability of Jababeka's new infrastructure strategy and formulate an action plan.

A senior manager at the Toronto office of accounting firm Davis, Ellis & Thurn (DE&T) reflected on last year's Upper Canada Bank (UCB) audit and wondered how he should plan for the upcoming 2012 audit. The senior manager was responsible for overseeing the audit of UCB's retail segment (UCBR). Specifically, he was concerned about the test-of-controls portion of the UCBR audit, since the team had faced some challenges the previous summer. For years, UCB had been a client of DE&T, but it was only in 2011 that the firm had bid on and was granted the test-of-controls portion, which had formerly been completed on behalf of DE&T by UCB's internal auditors. Now, reflecting on the previous year's engagement, the senior manager wondered what changes he would make with respect to budgeting, staffing, and training, and to the client relationship in order to ensure that the client was satisfied and the UCBR audit remained profitable.

Two years after the death of Sony's visionary founder, Akio Morita, chief executive officer Noboyuki Idei faced a major crisis. Sony had just posted its worst performance in years and had to figure out if its current strategy needed to change. In pursuit of Morita's vision to bring entertainment to the masses through innovation and applied technology, Sony had grown from a small Japanese company to a US$50-billion-per-year global corporation. As it entered the new millennium without its founder, Idei realized that the success Sony had enjoyed in the 1990s was being challenged in the global marketplace. With increasing global competition and in the midst of a recession, the company's net income was far below expectations. The situation would probably worsen if Sony failed to make immediate strategic changes, including changes to its international strategy. Idei had experienced firsthand the success Sony enjoyed in the 1990s as it expanded its product lines and international presence. By April 2001, after reviewing the previous year's financial performance, Idei knew Sony was fighting an uphill battle. All that Morita had worked towards, particularly in the 1990s, was suddenly being threatened. Idei faced a critical decision going forward. Sony was a company that still strove to embody its founders' vision, but could he dare go against his predecessor's approach and pursue a new international strategy?

Prada currently requires a significant amount of capital both to re-finance debt that is maturing in the next six to twelve months and to finance its intended growth into the Asian (especially Chinese) markets. Since financial markets are aware of Prada's pressing need to raise capital, it is important for the board of directors to develop a credible strategy for raising the necessary capital of at least €1 billion. Although the press has been suggesting that Prada will do an initial public offering, the company has tried this several times in the past with no success, mainly because of bad timing (9/11, the SARS outbreak, and the ongoing global financial crisis and European sovereign debt crisis). The board has approached Guido Santini of the investment bank Grupo Capo Milano to come up with a number of credible alternatives and a strategy for raising the needed capital.

Examining the effectiveness of the class visitation process at the Darden School had always been a high priority for the Office of Admissions due to its key role in connecting with qualified, enthusiastic applicants. Anecdotal feedback suggested that prospective students considered their visits productive and enjoyable and that they were energized by the Darden classroom experience; however, weaknesses in the visitation process had also been part of the feedback. Accordingly, continuous improvement of this vital component-the introduction of potential applicants to Darden-was an area of high interest to the Admissions Committee, and the associate director sought help identifying ways to improve it.

Lumina, a foundation focused on increasing both access to and success in higher education for U.S. students, is dealing with the recent resignation of its chief investment officer. The CFO reviews the structure the firm has in place to manage its $1.1 billion endowment. Although the CFO and other finance and administration professionals at Lumina are temporarily overseeing the endowment, Maas recognizes that many other foundations outsource this responsibility to investment advisory firms. As part of his review, he invites a number of firms-including CornerStone Partners, from Charlottesville, VA-to make presentations to the Lumina management team. While each firm claims the ability to outperform its benchmark, Maas wonders exactly how the outsourcing would add value, and how this outperformance could be quantified.

David Brennan, CEO of AstraZeneca UK Limited (AZN), was passionate about bringing new medicines to patients. But the industry was transforming to one that featured less patent protection, more competition from generic drugs, stiffer government regulations, and decreased productivity in R&D. The strategy? Build a pipeline with new prescription drugs that were unique enough to provide a differentiated benefit to patients, grow the business globally, streamline the organization and increase efficiency, and build a culture of courage, creativity, and collaboration. Would the firm be able to provide a sustainable and consistent pipeline of new products-at lower cost, likely with fewer people? How might the firm average two new products to market each year? What areas of R&D should the company invest in, and what would the R&D transformation look like?

In March 2012, Jack Dawkins is in the early stages of leading the development of an old navy yard in Croatia into a mixed-use waterfront community of residences, hotel rooms, shops and dining. Catering to those arriving by superyachts and other leisure boats, and set amongst dramatic coastline, the project would transform the region. Coordinating the many stakeholders in a new country, Jack has to decide the best way to navigate the development risks and whether the project really makes sense as proposed, in more ways than one.

Having just acquired Walker Insurance, Paul Thomson finds himself short of funds to support his original turnaround plan. He can request additional cash from his investor group, hunker down and grow at a slower rate or consider a proposal to buy his business. He has taken steps to re-virtualize the company and is challenged to build a salesforce to grow the business.

A 2010 MBA graduate explored her options for full-time employment. She found the Ethical Business Company (EBC) and was instantly intrigued. Not only did the company consult on many of the ethical issues that were important to her, but it also had a flat organizational structure. Although it was a riskier choice than going with a larger and more established firm, she was excited about being able to use her skills in direct interaction with clients and senior executives, rather than having them hidden beneath multiple layers of hierarchy. But after three weeks at EBC, she wondered if a flat structure is right for all companies and all employees or if there are certain companies and people who fit better in the hierarchy more than others.